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“You were sick.”
“I still have a brain. And even if I didn’t, you still shouldn’t blame Lilac. You have no idea how saying things like that to her could upset her.”
Great. Now everyone was staring at her. She squirmed, feeling awkward. “I need to check on Kye.”
“You need to apologize to Lilac, Linc,” Ryleigh ordered.
“It’s okay,” Lilac said hastily. “He doesn’t have to do that. He’s already doing so much for us. It doesn’t matter, he can say whatever he wants to me. It’s fine.”
She just didn’t want him to kick them out. They had nowhere to go. They needed to stay here a bit longer.
“Fucking hell,” Linc muttered.
“It does fucking matter,” Tanner said from behind her, making her jump.
Lilac turned to see him walk into the guesthouse, his gaze zeroing in on Linc. “Been meaning to have a chat with you, Linc.”
Uh-oh.
She didn’t like the sound of that.
“What do you mean, a chat?” she asked nervously.
Linc stood and placed a hand on Ryleigh’s shoulder. “I want you to wait here. Rest. You need a blanket, or you’ll get cold.”
Lilac grabbed the blanket she’d set aside and handed it to him.
Linc grimaced.
What was it? What had she done now?
“It’s clean. I mean, I know I slept with it. But it’s not . . . dirty.” God, she hated feeling like this. As though she was messing everything up, yet had no idea how to fix it. Was he going to lash out at her again?
But with his fists rather than his words?
She wasn’t sure which one was worse. As Linc reached out to take it, she stumbled back.
Linc’s eyes widened. “Lilac, did you think . . . what are you . . . fuck, I wasn’t going to hit you. I’d never.”
“I know that,” she said quickly, forcing a smile on her face. “I’m not . . . I need to get a drink of water.” She tried to rush into the kitchen, but Tanner reached out an arm to stop her.
Generally, she wouldn’t be able to stand someone grabbing her like that. Especially when she was on edge. But it was like her body knew Tanner. Knew he wouldn’t harm her.
“I’ll deal with you in a minute, Linc,” he warned before smiling down at her. “But first, good afternoon, baby.”
“Hi,” she said shyly. “I wasn’t sure I was going to see you today.”
“I thought I’d let you sleep in. You don’t look very rested, though.” Great, so she looked like shit. Good to know. He frowned and reached up with his other hand to touch her face. She had to hold in a flinch.
Okay, so she was still on edge.
He ran his finger under her eye.
“That’s because she got up early and went to the diner,” Opal told him. “She’s barely slept.”
That frown turned into a scowl.
She shot Opal an exasperated look. The other woman just gave Lilac an innocent look back.
